At Earth911, people often ask us, “Is shredded paper recyclable?” The answer is still “yes, but”—and how and where you can recycle it has changed a lot since our last update.
In 2024, 60% to 64% of paper and 69% to 74% of cardboard were recycled in the United States, according to the American Forest & Paper Association. U.S. mills used 32.7 million tons of recycled paper to make new products. Paper is one of the most recycled materials in the country, but shredded paper is an exception because it is more complicated to recycle.
Why Shredded Paper Is Tricky to Recycle
Paper is made of fibers, and longer fibers make paper more valuable for recycling. Each time paper is recycled, the fibers get shorter and lose value. Eventually, recycled paper is turned into tissue or toilet paper. Shredded paper is especially difficult to recycle, so many programs will not accept it.
Shredding accelerates fiber shortening and lowers the paper grade from high-grade to mixed-grade. Mixed-grade paper is still recyclable, but it ends up baled and processed into products like paper towels and packing paper. However, the smaller piece size creates real problems at material recovery facilities (MRFs). Loose shreds fall through sorting screens, jamming optical scanners that need a minimum piece size to identify materials correctly. Shredded paper often contaminates glass, plastic, and other streams. That’s why most programs require you bag shredded paper if they accept shredded paper at all.
The 2026 Curbside Reality: Check Before You Toss
Starting July 1, 2025, Oregon residents saw a change. Under Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, shredded paper will no longer be accepted in curbside bins in counties like Clackamas. However, new recycling centers are being set up to take shredded paper. In the Portland metro area, shredded paper was also removed from curbside collection under new Extended Producer Responsibility rules, but new facilities are being built to handle it.
If your local program does accept shredded paper, you’ll almost always need to place it in a paper bag — a standard brown grocery bag works well — and label it clearly as “Shredded Paper” so recycling workers can sort it correctly. Only use a clear plastic bag if your facility explicitly instructs you to; otherwise the whole bag typically goes to the landfill.
You can use Earth911’s Recycling Search and enter your ZIP code to find the latest local recycling options.
New Drop-Off Infrastructure: The Growing Reality
One of the biggest changes for shredded paper recycling in 2025 and 2026 is the opening of special drop-off centers run by Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) in states with extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws.
Oregon’s RecycleOn Centers: At the RecycleOn Center in Ashland, the first of 144 planned statewide facilities under the Recycling Modernization Act, shredded paper is among the materials now collected, along with aluminum foil, expanded polystyrene, and other items that often contaminate curbside bins. The network began in Southern Oregon and is expanding to Deschutes County, with the Portland metro region expected to see new sites coming in 2026. Find local options at RecycleOn.org.
California, Colorado, Maine, and Minnesota have since passed similar EPR laws, and more states are expected to build comparable drop-off infrastructure for hard-to-recycle materials, including shredded paper.
Professional Shredding Events and Services
Businesses use paper shredders most often to protect confidential information. Many communities offer free shredding events, usually sponsored by banks, credit unions, or local government offices. The shredded paper from these events is reliably recycled instead of being sent to a landfill.
If you have a large amount of paper to shred, certified shredding services offer both security and environmental responsibility. For example, Iron Mountain shreds over 40,000 tons of material each month at its secure facilities and recycles it, helping save more than 4 million trees each year. Shred-it also recycles shredded materials whenever possible, following NAID AAA-certified processes. When choosing a shredding service, look for the NAID AAA designation to make sure your paper is recycled, not just destroyed.
Think Before You Shred
The best recycling strategy often starts before the shredder. In most cases, the information you want to delete is only on one line, such as a name or number. You can use a permanent marker to cover personal data; this ink is easily removed during recycling — then recycle the whole document intact. Intact paper has a higher value, is easier for MRFs to process, and is more likely to make it all the way through the recycling stream.
Only shred documents that really need it, like tax records, medical files, financial statements, or anything with full account numbers or Social Security numbers. For other papers, recycling the whole sheet is better for the environment.
If Recycling Isn’t an Option: Compost Or Reuse
Shredded paper is a great carbon source for composting because it is already partly broken down. You can add it to compost, but avoid glossy or heavily inked paper, which may have harmful chemicals. Mix shredded paper with food scraps, leaves, and other organic material for the best results. You can also reuse shredded paper as packing material or bedding for small animals like hamsters or rabbits, keeping it out of the trash.
Editor’s Note: Originally published on April 19, 2011, this article was updated in March 2026.
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